An Lushan

An Lushan (703-29 January 757) was a Sogdian and Gokturk general in the service of Tang China and the leader of the An Lushan Rebellion. He served as the first Emperor of the Great Yan from 756 to 757, when he was assassinated by his subordinates and succeeded by his son An Qingshu.

Biography
Aluoshan was born in 703, the son of a Gokturk mother who remarried to a Sogdian general in the service of Tang China. He served as an interpreter before being promoted to high rank by Chancellor Li Linfu, and he defended the northeastern Tang border from the Khitans and other threats. He became one of the most powerful frontier commanders, leading 164,000 troops from Fanyang (near present-day Beijing). He became popular at Emperor Xuanzong of Tang's court, and he was made a Prince by Li Linfu. However, his status was threatened when the Emperor's favorite concubine had her cousin Yang Guozhong promoted to high rank at the court; Yang allied with Li Linfu's rivals and conspired to remove his ally An Lushan from command. When Li Linfu died in 753 AD, An Lushan felt threatened in his position, leading to him leading the "An Lushan Rebellion" with 150,000 troops two years later. In 756, having captured Luoyang, he founded the "Great Yan" dynasty and won the support of several Tang nobles due to his benevolence towards them. An Lushsan and his army entered and occupied Chang'an and massively depopulated the city in the process, massacring a great portion of the city's population and forcing many others to flee. In 757, a group of his immediate followers assassinated him, having grown angry at his inability to defeat the Tang.